FT Island’s Choi Min Hwan claims he did not facilitate prostitution, despite admitting to police that he regularly frequents adult venues.
The idol confessed to regularly frequenting adult entertainment venues in a police report obtained by Korean media Sports Kyeonghyang on December 20th.
Hwan, who was questioned on July 9, 2022, denied charges of facilitating prostitution after he was found contacting an adult entertainment establishment middleman and asking for a reservation.
“It is true that I often visited adult entertainment venues through broker ‘A’, but I never solicited prostitution,” Hwan allegedly told police.
“I don’t even remember if I ended up in a club that night.”
“A,” an adult center employee, testified to police that, “The conversation with Choi Minhwan that day was about a reservation at an adult entertainment center, not a prostitution business.”
The police, based on the insufficient evidence based only on the recording of Hwan and “A”, closed Hwan’s case.
The idol came into the investigation when his ex-wife, singer Yulhee, accused Hwan of soliciting prostitution and sexually assaulting her in a video on his personal YouTube channel. In the video, Yulhee played snippets of a recording to make his case. She revealed that the idol’s frequent visits to adult entertainment venues were the reason for their divorce.
Yulhee accused Hwan of touching her inappropriately in front of her in-laws.
The singer has since changed her stance, refusing to participate in a police interrogation and refusing to submit an original recording as evidence, prompting police to end the investigation due to insufficient evidence.
“I do not want this case to be investigated or punished, for the sake of the children,” he testified.
South Korea’s “Prostitution Punishment Act” of 2004 criminalizes the buying and selling of sex, making prostitution punishable by prison or fines for both the prostitute and the client.
On December 18, Hwan took to fan platform Weverse to reaffirm that he did not request sexual services.
“I have never practiced prostitution, as reported by the media. I was acquitted of the charges due to insufficient evidence. How do you prove something you didn’t commit?” he said.
“That’s why I had nothing else to say, and it was incredibly frustrating.”
